Before
by Onira
Summary: Before Seras arrival, there was another. This is she. AlucardOC. I swear shes not a mary sue.
1. Chapter 1

It was a beautiful night indeed. Alucard stepped through the littered patches of streetlamp light. Par usual, his mission on this particular night was to eliminate a local FREAK incursion. This time it involved a local bar, nothing particularly entertaining. Alucard approached the place along the sidewalk, keeping his distance par orders. He was only to interfere should the silly human squad fail to do their job. He shook his head absently. The humans were so incompetent, unable to take care of something so simple as a single FREAK at times. Settling into a shadow, Alucard waited for either the squad to return, or for someone to come crawling out the door, bleeding profusely. He chuckled, rather hoping it was the second. Things had been wretchedly boring of late. This had been the first incident in the last few days, and nothing even remotely interesting had occurred for the past week or so.

Motion from the bar doorway caught his eye. The door was pushed jerkily open by what appeared to be half of a human hand. Said hand was soon followed by the attached body, which was missing several parts. Alucard rolled his eyes and raised his Jackul, leveling the barrel with the ghoul, now halfway out the door. He pulled the trigger, hardly feeling the recoil as he watched in mild satisfaction, the freak falling to the ground and melting into dust.

And so, the night begins.

Emily Ellis arrived at the Hellsing gates, taking yet another doubtful look at the address on the newspaper clipping. She eyed the mansion, just down the road from the gate, wondering just what she was about to get into. Just why did the interview have to be so late… Or early, depending on your concept of time. Thoughts of explaining her lack of rent to the super of her apartment quickly silenced any apprehensions she had and Emily began to look around for an intercom or something.

"Welcome." Said a voice from off to the right. Emily jumped slightly and looked and found the intercom, just a bit higher than she was tall, built as part of the gate itself. She regained her composure and smiled politely.

"Hello. I am here in answer to your newspaper add." She said, holding up the clipping. "I called two days ago and set up an interview." Emily waited nervously for a reply of sorts. After a few moments, she was not disappointed.

"Ah yes, Miss Ellis. Welcome to the Hellsing Manor." With that, the gates opened, the steel hinges creaking slightly. Emily took a deep breath and walked down the drive, fiddling nervously with the corner of her shoulder bag.

Alucard returned to the manor, stepping from a wall-shadow in Sir Integra's office. He leaned idly against the wall, scanning the office. Integra sat at her desk, absorbed in something or other. He remained silent, not particularly interested in making his presence known. You can be sure his curiosity was piqued when a new presence entered his mind. He raised an eyebrow. Now this was interesting. The presence was female, but it wasn't a vampire… How strange, usually only the undead give off such an aura. Alas, he did not have long to ponder it. Sir Integra's desk-intercom piped up, Walter's voice filling the silence.

"Miss Emily Ellis has arrived for a job interview." Integra set down her papers.

"Thank you Walter. Send her in whenever you see fit." Alucard raised an inquiring eyebrow. Just what was his master up to this time? For whatever reason could she require another employee. Last he checked, the soldiers were not interviewed. Within minutes the door opened, admitting Walter.

"Sir Integra, Miss Emily Ellis." He said, gesturing the girl into Integra's study. This time both eyebrows went skyward as Alucard watched a slim young thing enter the room.

Emily looked around the study, careful to keep her expression one of polite interest rather than the awe she wished to express. Sir Integra's study was quite impressive; the bookshelves on either side adding to the grandeur. Emily took a few steps forward until she reached the deep red carpet that dominated most of the floor then bowed politely.

"Good evening Sir Integra." She said, keeping her voice in a schooled tone of soft respect.

"Good evening Miss Ellis." Integra replied, gesturing to one of the two chairs in front of her desk. "Sit and we shall discuss your credentials."

Alucard took this opportunity to tune out, making note of only the fact that the girl was to be hired as a secretary, keeping record of the various raids and making note of any patterns she might notice. Alucard's interest was once again aroused when he heard that this girl was to take reports from him. He grinned, noting that Integra neglected to mention his race. 'Tactful, but I have to wonder just when she will inform the girl.' He thought. He did not have to wait long.

"You seem competent." Integra said. "I will hire you if you still wish to work for the Hellsing Organization after I explain just what we do." Emily tilted her head to the side slightly. Integra went on, explaining ghouls, vampires and the entirety of Hellsing's purpose. Alucard was rather surprised when the girl simply listened, her expression remaining one of polite curiosity. If she took the job it would be quite interesting to see just how far he could push before that mask broke. Integra finished her explanation and prompted Emily for an answer.

"I still wish to work for the Hellsing Organization, Sir Integra. If I may, would it be alright if I took the evening to move my belongings from my apartment to my new quarters?" Emily asked.

"Of course, so long as you are back before dawn to record Alucard's report." Integra said dismissively, turning back to the papers on her desk. "Now off with you."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Emily set down the last box with a sigh of relief. Despite the fact that she did not own a great deal of stuff, moving everything had taken her a good portion of the night. Her books had been the worst of it. But luckily Integra had seen fit to enlist Walter to assist her.

"Ah, is that everything Miss Ellis?" The butler asked, setting down the laptop case he had been carrying. Emily looked up and smiled at the aging man.

"Yes, thank you very much for the help. There's no way I would have gotten it all done tonight without your help." She said and Walter returned the smile.

"It was my pleasure Miss Ellis. However, I must re-iterate that I cannot believe that you managed without a car or at least a bicycle up until now." The butler replied, handing her the key to her room.

"Seeing as how tonight I would probably have been in real trouble without the help of one, I guess you must be right." Emily said, giving a sheepish smile as she took the key. She checked her watch, finding it to be almost 3am. 'I have no idea how I am going to get used to being nocturnal.' She thought absently, and then recalled that her night was not over just yet.

"Oh, Walter? Do you know where I am to meet with this Alucard? Integra did not mention it."

"Yes I do know. Better yet, I believe I have time to show you myself. The manor is rather large. It can be quite difficult to get lost." The butler said, exiting the room and waiting for Emily to lock the door before leading her down the hallway.

Around ten minutes later found Emily in a rather nice, office-like room, settled into a roller-chair behind the desk. A pen and pad of standard 8x11 paper lay on the desk in front of her. Emily sat for a minute or two, wondering exactly when she was to begin. After a while of boredom, she picked up the pen and wrote down the date.

"Might as well do what I can until that Alucard man gets here." She said, thinking aloud. She wrote out a few slots for the location of the raid, number of casualties and such.

Alucard watched with relative amusement from a shadow tucked neatly into the corner above and behind the human girl. She looked about 24. Her dark brown, nearly black hair was put up into a neat bun at the upper-back of her head. A pair of black-rimmed glasses rested near the tip of her nose. 'How quaint.' He thought absently. 'A secretary down to the last detail.' With a slight roll of his eyes, he stepped from the shadow, moving to stand just behind the woman.

"Good evening." He said, smirking inwardly as she jumped visibly and whirled around to face him. 'Well, that did not take long. How uninteresting. It is no fun if the mask goes off so easily.'

Emily stared at him, completely forgetting that it was probably not the most polite thing to do. He was hardly what she expected. Sir Integra _had_ told her that Alucard was a vampire. But she expected slightly more morose clothing, more black. She looked him over, starting with his boots and working her way up. She noted in passing that his cravat was rather askew and that he was wearing sunglasses indoors. 'How odd. Nice hat though.' Suddenly, she recalled that she was most likely being rude and got to her feet.

"Please excuse me." She said, bowing slightly. "You rather startled me." Alucard raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses. 'That mask is back again.' He thought, then gave a mental shrug. No matter. Doubtless he would have it off once more within the night.

"Not at all. You did not jump nearly as high as the last secretary." He said with a smirk, walking around the desk to the chair in front. He sat down languidly, his legs stretched out and one foot resting on the other, making himself quite at home. Emily's temper was irked by his indolent attitude and she repressed a slight urge to glare at him. Exhaling slowly, she sat down in her chair and turned to face him.

"Now then, Mr. Alucard, shall we move on to business?" She asked politely, picking up her pen. Alucard took of his glasses and hat, setting them on the armrest of his chair. He brought his gaze up to the girls, watching her gray-green eyes as they flitted about the paper pad.

"Just Alucard is fine. And yes, indeed we shall." He said, causing her to look up at him. "It was a beautiful night…" Alucard began, letting his voice trail off as he ensnared her eyes with his own. 'I have you now.' He thought. 'What's behind that mask of yours, girl? Show me.' He thought, reaching into her mind. He delved into her mind, never loosing eye contact as his "fingers" brushed the surface of her thoughts.

A feral roar split though his mind and his mental vision was suddenly filled with a raging feline, fiery green eyes blazing into his. With a snarl, the creature lashed out and struck at his "hand," leaving smarting slashes across the backs. Quickly, Alucard withdrew his mind, watching the beast settle back down into the human girl's conscious.

'What on earth was that?' Alucard thought, a brow rising in interest. 'It seems that this will be much more enjoyable than I thought.' He smirked and blinked, thus severing his hold on her. Emily started slightly, as though waking from a daydream.

"Ah, I'm sorry." She apologized, adjusting her hold on the pen. "I am afraid I dozed off. I am not yet used to this whole nocturnalism thing. What were you saying?" Alucard sighed, as though exasperated, and steepled his gloved fingertips.

"Do try to pay attention Miss. I do not enjoy repeating myself." He said, giving her a rather annoyed look.

"My name is Emily Ellis. Please use it." Emily said, her voice carrying a defensive and rather defiant tone. Alucard smirked. Yes, this would indeed be quite amusing.

Review Responses;

Raven: Thankyou. Please feel free to come back and read the rest. -

KerriRane: Thankyou muchly. I am afraid I am having a little trouble finding the story on your page. My you have quite a lot of them. O.oll


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